Monday night. No major injuries. Outside of March Madness it doesn't get much better than this. Predictions?
No major injuries? UConn's best perimeter player(by far, in my opinion) Jerome Dyson is out for the year. UConn is now playing with a 3 point guard rotation including two poor defenders and a freshman. As a UConn fan, I think this team going to get destroyed if the guardplay doesn't improve dramatically. Thabeet and Adrien are great anchors, but they can be neutralized with a zone defense.
My bad, I wasn't aware of the Dyson injury. I watched them play last Saturday against Michigan at full strength -- I guess it makes sense I didn't hear about the Dyson injury since it happened this week. That stinks. I like his game. Still should be a great game though. I like Adrien a lot. He plays a lot like DeJuan Blair. Thabeet is fun to watch too despite how dreadfully awkward he looks.
Is it for sure Dyson is out for the year, now? Last I heard, they still weren't sure. I can't wait for this game, either way!!!
i saw the crawl last night and it said they weren't sure. i think they're waiting to determine the chances of him hurting it more severly if they put off surgery.
Welcome to the DeJuan Blair show, ladies & gents! 36-33 Pitt at the half. Great game so far. Blair is absolutely dominating Thabeet (again) despite giving up seven inches. Somebody should issue a halftime Amber Alert for Levance Fields and Jeff Adrien -- two of the better players on the court that have a combed zero points. It's also a little agitating that Pitt, despite being clearly the more aggressive and paint oriented team, shot one free throw the entire half compared to UConn's 10. UConn would be down 10+ if it wasn't for A.J. Price hitting every jumper he took. Should be a great finish.
Despite this being a great game this is yet another example of why the NBA will always be better than college basketball in my book. Rarely in the NBA do you see the officials dominating a game the way they do in college hoops. Especially in Big East play. Ticky tack, ticky tack.
Dejuan Blair has gone for 20/20 against the best bigmen the Big East has to compete with in Luke Harangody and Thabet.
Great game. Levance Fields showed why he's a winner today, just like he did against Duke with the last second three last year in overtime. He starts 0-7 then proceeds to score 8 straight points for Pitt while UConn gets 0, including two huge threes. I've said since the beginning of the year that Pitt was my favorite to win it all. The two most important factors that decide the champion in college are NBA talent and experience, in that order. Last year it was an extremely tough finals game to call, because Memphis had the talent but Kansas had the experience. This year though, Pittsburgh has just the right combination. No one has a better veteran core than they do in Fields and Young, and their NBA talent is underrated in the form of Blair. To me he looks like a superior Craig Smith in every facet of the game; there's no reason he shouldn't make the lottery this July.
Very true and one of those guys is supposed to be a top three pick in the draft. How many posters is Thabeet going to be on next year?
I really don't see Blair going on the lottery. He just doesn't have the lift to finish in the NBA. He's supremely skilled and strong and is a hell of a rebounder, but I don't see him becoming a centerpiece in the NBA because of his size and lack of explosive athleticism.
He's like a cross between Danny Fortson and Paul Millsap. I'm not sure if that necessarily translates into a lottery pick but I know I would definitely take him in the first round. I just wouldn't expect him to be a star or anchor a franchise. He would be an ideal starter at the four next to a scoring center. Imagine him in Orlando. You can slide that joker Rashard back to the three, play Blair at the four and watch Orlando become the toughest interior team in the league. Not to mention, by far the best rebounding team -- improving work on the offense glass which is a relative weakness. Hell, he would even work on the Rockets too since he's a much better version of Chuck Hayes. PF isn't really an area of need right now though.
I agree. He would be a monster next to Howard. But my only concern is that he can't get up and finish like Paul Millsap or even Landry. He definitely is a first rounder though.
I don't see Blair next to Dwight Howard. Neither guy has any game away from the basket and they would get in each others way. Neither guy could guard a perimeter PF or C on defense either. At 6'7, 265 lbs, Blair's place in the NBA would be mainly as a backup C, not PF.
i can see myself writing the word pitt at least four times in about a month. i really really like that team.
I'm with you on that. I won't know what to do with UConn. They're still a really good team...it's more difficult for me to pick when they're gonna lose now. I like a lot of teams this year...no clear cut best. I think I know 2 of my final four already...barring a major injury or something.
Some horrible officiating in the Blair/Thabeet matchup. Let the guys play. Really foul trouble hurt Thabeet. He couldn't be aggressive and that really hurt him. Blair had his way with him last night. I guess he set the tone with the slam of thabeet earlier lol.
